With it being Lent, I thought that it would be good to share some reflections – some new, some old – that would be appropriate for this time of year. This is a poem I wrote when I was a Junior in high school, calling us to reflect on the effect that sin has on our relationship with Christ.

I am a whip.
I live my life for the only thing
That could ever matter:
Me, myself, and I.

I go day-to-day
Hoping for more from this life.
I can’t seem to find my reason
To go on living through each strife.

I hate, I hurt,
I don’t care who I hurt
But as I go through each day,
I begin to see the pain I cause.

Every hurtful word,
Every hateful act,
A soldier lifts up his arm,
An innocent man attacked.

I am brought down onto
A prisoner who did nothing wrong.
He is innocent,
But proceeds without a word.

Each sin I commit
Is a whip on his back.
Every person I hurt,
Another piece of flesh is lost.

That innocent man
Gives his life for me.
What is my thanks?
I whip His back everyday.

I am a hammer.
The way I force down
The steel into this man,
This innocent man…